The Burning Castle
by Shadowzamy
Summary: Prince Yoh is sick of being stuck in the castle so he decides to sneak out with the help of his guardian Amidamaru. His parents are terrified when they find out, but what outside the castle could be so dangerous? HaoxYoh may possibly turn dark later.
1. The Begining

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

Underline stands for writing.

HaoxYoh

XxX

"Prince Yoh, wake up, we're going into the village today, remember?" Amidamaru asked, tapping on the bedroom door.

"I'm coming, just give me a minute." Yoh replied, getting dressed. He put on a black t-shirt and grey cargo pants. He wore two small silver hoop earrings, one on each ear and he quickly brushed his shoulder length dark auburn hair.

"I'm ready, when are we leaving?" Yoh asked, eagerly.

"After breakfast, remember not to say anything about leaving, ok?" Amidamaru replied.

"I know, Mom and Dad don't approve of me leaving the castle so I won't say anything." Yoh said, with a carefree smile.

"You know, I never would have agreed to take you if you hadn't threatened to go out on your own if I hadn't." Amidamaru said, shortly before they entered the dining room. They both sat down in there seats and began to eat.

'_Queen Keiko and King Mikihisa, my mom and dad, are both sitting at the far end of the table. Ren, the heir to the Tao family, is sitting next to Horohoro, the chief of the Ainu tribe's son. Bason sat by Amidamaru and on the other side of Ren, Bason was Ren's guard like Amidamaru was mine. Anna, my fighting trainer, was sitting next to Lyserg, the son of the great detective and Faust, the best doctor in the kingdom, was sitting next to Ryu, the master chef. Joco, a comedian in training, was sitting next to Tamao, the temple caretaker and I sit alone at the end of the table with the spirit's for company._' Yoh thought, taking a bite of his breakfast. '_As usual_.'

"Yoh, why did you say that you tell Anna that you won't attend your spirit unity class today?" Queen Keiko asked, sounding concerned.

"Well, Amidamaru promised that he would show me around the secret passages in the castle today." Yoh answered, simply.

"Um, where did you hear about those passages to begin with?" King Mikihisa asked, very surprised.

"Seriously? What giant castle doesn't have at least one secret passage way?" Yoh said, finishing his breakfast.

The King and Queen glanced at one another. "Ok then, be safe." They replied, simultaneously.

"Ok, let's go Amidamaru."Yoh said, running out the front door.

"Wait up Prince Yoh, I can't show you where they are if you're running ahead of me." Amidamaru yelled, chasing after Yoh.

"Have fun." Queen Keiko shouted after them.

"Queen Keiko, King Mikihisa can I tell you something?" Ren asked, staring at the closing door.

"After breakfast, you can." Queen Keiko answered.

"Yes, your majesty." Ren said, going back to eating his breakfast.

xXx

"Wow, is the village always this crowded?" Yoh asked, looking at all the houses and shops.

"Yes Yoh, now that you have seen the village, can we go back now" Amidamaru asked, nervously.

"What? But we just got here, I want to look around." Yoh said, running off into the village.

"Wait up, Yoh." Amidamaru said, as he ran after Yoh.

Together Yoh and Amidamaru explored the entire village, Yoh would usually end up running off somewhere and Amidamaru would follow right behind him. Today there was a festival in the village so both Yoh and Amidamaru got a mask from one of the shops, Yoh wore a black Okami mask while Amidamaru wore a Samurai mask. Amidamaru was beginning to enjoy the festival just as mush as Yoh as they played a few games together until Yoh saw a cat and ran off after it and ended up getting lost in a nearby forest, separated from Amidamaru.

XxX

"What did you want to tell us Ren?" King Mikihisa asked.

"I just thought you should know that Amidamaru showed Prince Yoh the secret passages three months ago." Ren informed.

"What? Then why would Yoh want to see them again?" Queen Keiko asked, worriedly.

"He doesn't." Ren answered, simply.

"Then why would he-" King Mikihisa's eyes became wide with fear as he looked at Queen Keiko, who had the same expression of fear on her face.

"He went into the village!" They exclaimed, worriedly.

"Anna, Ren, Horohoro and Lyserg, please, bring Yoh and Amidamaru back to the castle at once!" King Mikihisa ordered.

"I mean no disrespect your Majesty but Amidamaru is with him, Prince Yoh should be safe from any attacks against the crown with Amidamaru by his side." Ren said, looking up at the King and Queen.

"For any attacks against the _crown_ Yoh will be safe, but there is someone who doesn't care about the crown, he just want _Yoh_ dead." King Mikihisa said, looking back at the Queen.

"If there is someone like that then why haven't they been caught or killed?" Lyserg asked.

"It's not like we haven't tried, he's just to strong. Every time we send someone out to get him they come back in dead or in ashes." King Mikihisa said, sorrowfully.

"Who is he?" Horohoro asked, doubtfully.

"His name is Asakura Hao and he is Yoh's ancestor, as well as his older twin brother." Queen Keiko replied.

"What? How is that possible?" Anna gasped.

"Hao reincarnated into this life as an Asakura once again in order to prevent the Asakura's from stopping him from destroying all humans." King Mikihisa said, lost in thought.

"I see, but what does that have anything to do with why he wants Prince Yoh dead?" Horohoro asked, sounding confused.

"In every one of his past incarnations the heir to the Asakura family has always killed him and in doing so they prevented him from completing his goal." Queen Keiko answered.

"I get it, so he wants Prince Yoh dead so that no one will be able to stop him this time?" Lyserg asked.

"That's right, he tried to kill Yoh when they both were first born but he didn't have all of his strength yet, because of that I was able to prevent him from doing so for the time being. Unfortunately he has regained all of his strength after that time and he has gotten even stronger sense then." King Mikihisa explained.

"So if Hao finds Prince Yoh while he's in the village... he'll kill him." Anna said, her eyes became wide with realization.

"Yes, now Anna, Ren, Horohoro and Lyserg, bring Yoh and Amidamaru back to the castle at once!" King Mikihisa repeated.

"Yes, your Majesty." They replied, then they left the castle to find the prince and his guardian.

"Lyserg can you locate them with your dowsing ability?" Ren asked, quickly.

"I can try." Lyserg replied, pulling out his dowsing pendulum oversoul.

"That way!" Lyserg exclaimed, running towards the direction the pendulum had pointed. Everyone else merely followed Lyserg.

"Amidamaru!" Anna yelled, seeing Amidamaru in the samurai mask. '_Even when he's wearing a mask, his hair still stands out, I don't think Yoh would have been so easy to find_.' Anna thought, running towards Amidamaru.

"Miss Anna, and everyone else?" Amidaru asked, sounding a bit surprised. "Never mind that, please, you must help me find Prince Yoh." Amidamau said, worriedly.

"He's not with you?" Horohoro asked, surprised.

"He was but he ran off and I lost sight of him." Amidamaru said, rather upset.

"We came here to bring you both back." Ren informed.

"Alright, then lets find Prince Yoh. He is wearing a black Okami mask." Amidamaru said, then they all began to search for Prince Yoh.

xXx

"Where am I?" Yoh asked himself, as he walked around the forest. The forest was strangely quiet, not even the spirit's were out. "Amidamaru, are you out there?" Yoh called, there was no answer. "How am I supposed to get back to the village now?" Yoh asked himself.

"I can help you get back." A voice behind him said.

Yoh tuned around to find himself facing a boy about his age. He had the same color hair as Yoh, but his hair was long hair and went down to his waist. He also had both ears pierced twice, he wore small black metal hoops and silver star earrings. He wore a white t-shirt and faded blue jeans, a white Kitsune mask completed his appearance.

"Are you sure it wouldn't be any trouble?" Yoh asked, looking up at the other teen.

"Not at all. Oh, and my name is Hao by the way." Hao said, walking ahead.

"Thank you Hao, my name's Yoh." Yoh said, following Hao.

"Yoh?... strange name." Hao said, lost in thought. They walked for a while and by the time they came back to the village it was night out.

"It looks like the fireworks are going to start soon." Hao commented, staring up at the sky.

"Really? I wish I could see them." Yoh said, sadly.

"Why cant you?" Hao asked, simply.

"I have to get back home my parents are probably worried." Yoh said, looking around.

"The fireworks won't be out for long, your parents already been waiting for hours, I'm sure one more won't matter." Hao said, walking over to a hill.

"Ok, but just for one hour." Yoh said, sitting down next to Hao. They watched the fireworks and talked for about forty five minutes, then Yoh fell fast asleep. Hao carefully shook Yoh, trying to wake him up but it was no use, Yoh was out cold and snoring quietly.

"Well it looks like he is going to be asleep for a little while." Hao said, taking off his mask.

'_I wonder what he looks like when he's sleeping._' Hao thought, putting his hand on Yoh's mask. Hao carefully removed the mask to reveal Yoh's sleeping face. '_I can't believe that Yoh actually managed to get out of the __castle._' Hao smirked at the thought. '_I thought I would end up having to sneak in to the castle to get to him. Then again he may be more than just the next Asakura heir to me after all, I think I've had a change of heart about killing him all together._' Hao leaned over Yoh and gently pressed their lips together, waiting a moment before sliding his tongue in Yoh's mouth. Hao let his tongue explore inside Yoh's mouth for a minute before pulling away. Hao smirked down at Yoh as he put Yoh's mask back on him, then he put his own mask on.

Hao pulled out a pen and piece of paper from one of his pockets and began writing, by the time the last firework came to life in the sky Hao had finished writing the letter. Hao stood up and carefully picked up Yoh before walking over to the castle with Yoh in his arms. When he got there he was greeted by a tall man in a lab coat.

"Hello, my name is Faust, what business do you have at the castle?" Faust asked, kindly.

"I am just returning him." Hao stated, handing Yoh to Faust.

"This is the prince, where did you find him?" Faust asked, curiously.

"I found him in the forest, he got lost after chasing a cat. When we got back the fireworks were starting. I know I probably shouldn't have, but I convinced him to watch the fireworks with me before coming back By the time the fireworks were over he had fallen asleep." Hao explained, sounding upset when he mentioned that he had convinced Yoh to stay out so late.

"It's alright, Prince Yoh's back now and that's what matters, I'm sure no one will be to upset when they find out why he was gone so long." Faust said, trying to cheer up Hao.

"You think?" Hao asked, happily.

"I'm sure of it." Faust said, with an reassuring smile.

"By the way, can you give this to the King and Queen for me?" Hao asked, holding out the letter.

"Sure, but don't you want to give it to them your self?" Faust asked, confused.

"I can't, I have to go home now, good bye." Hao said, running off.

"Wait, you never told me your name." Faust shouted after him.

"It's in the letter for the letter for the King and Queen." Hao shouted back, before disappearing completely from sight.

'_What a strange kid._' Faust thought, then he went back inside the castle.

"I'm surprised that he believed that little act so easily." Hao muttered to himself. '_I wonder what his reaction will be when finds out when finds out who I am... this should be interesting._' Hao thought, teleporting back to his burning castle to watch how things played out in his magic lake.

XxX

**Authors note:**

**For those who don't understand, all of the human spirits are alive in this fanfic and both Yoh and Ren don't have a guardian ghost because Amidamaru and Bason protect them. Everyone else still has their spirit partners. This fanfic is also set in the current time period there are a few changes though. 1. There aren't any cities only town's and villages. 2. Shaman's are viewed highly and they aren't usually rejected unless their strength is to be feared... That's all I can think of.**

**Please review:)**


	2. Kinapped

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

Underline stands for writing.

XxX

Faust carried Prince Yoh upstairs to his room and tucked him in bed, then he made his way back down down stairs to inform the King and Queen that the Prince was back. Faust knocked on the door to the living room.

"You may enter." King Mikihisa answered through the door.

Faust entered the room to find Amidamaru, Anna, Ren, Bason, Horohoro, Lyserg, Ryu and Tamao already there.

"I'm sorry King Mikihisa and Queen Keiko, this is all my fault, I never should have let the Prince out of my sight." Amidamaru said, sorrowfully.

"I don't really care who's fault it is, I just want Yoh back." Queen Keiko said, sadly.

"May I say something?" Faust asked, cautiously.

"Yes, what is it?" King Mikihisa

"I merely came in to inform you that the Prince is back." Faust said, looking up at the King and Queen.

"What? Where was he?" Queen Keiko asked, as she sighed in relief.

"I was told that he got lost in the forest while chasing a cat, he's asleep now." Faust said, simply.

"You were told? By who?" King Mikihisa asked, curiously.

"The teen who brought Prince Yoh back home." Faust replied, walking over to where everyone else was.

"What did he look like?" Queen Keiko asked.

"I don't know, he was wearing a white Kitsune mask, but he asked me to give this to you.." Faust said, handing the letter to the Queen.

"We should try to find him, we need to thank him for bringing our son back." King Mikihisa said, as Queen Keiko read the letter.

"Dear?" Queen Keiko asked.

"Yes Keiko?" King Mikihisa asked, turning to look at the Queen.

"We need to find this boy, but not so that we can thank him." Queen Keiko replied, coolly.

"Why?" King Mikihisa asked, uncertainly.

"Because this boy, is Hao." Queen Keiko replied, crumpling the letter.

"What?" Everyone exclaimed.

"What did the note say?" King Mikihisa asked, trying to remain calm.

"It said: Dear Mikihisa and Keiko, I believe I've had a change of heart. I no longer want my younger twin dead, now I want him with me. I will come for him tomorrow night, you have until then to explain everything to him and say your goodbyes... I will not fail to get to him this time. Signed, Hao." Queen Keiko recited, looking down at everyone's expressions.

"What are we supposed to do?" Amidamaru asked, breathlessly.

"We'll decide that in the morning, it's late, we should all get some sleep. Good night everyone." King Mikihisa answered, walking with the Queen over to their room.

"Good night your Majesty." Everyone replied, before going back to their own rooms.

xXx (The next day)

"Amidamaru, why do I have stay inside the castle now?" Yoh asked, walking to the living room.

"To keep you safe, Prince Yoh." Amidamaru replied, following not far behind.

"Ok then," Yoh quickly turned around so that he was facing Amidamaru, "What has everyone been hiding from me all day?" Yoh asked, with a hurt expression.

"Ask the King and Queen, it's not my place to tell you." Amidamaru said, opening the door for him.

Yoh entered the living room, where his parents were waiting.

"What is this all about?" Yoh asked, nervously. He noted that just about everyone in the castle was there.

"Yoh, do you remember when you were out so late last night?" Queen Keiko asked, with a concerned tone.

"Yea, I'm sorry for sneaking out of the castle." Yoh said, looking down at the floor.

"I don't care about that right now, I want to know what happened after you got separated from Amidamaru." Queen Keiko said, glancing at King Mikihisa.

"I got lost in the forest, chasing a cat. When I was in the forest I met a boy wearing a white Kitsune mask, he said his name was Hao. He helped me get out of the forest, but it took us a while and by the time we got out the fireworks were about to start. I said I wanted to see the fireworks but I didn't want to make you guys wait and he said that you've been waiting for hours so one more wouldn't matter. We watched the fireworks and talked for about forty minutes and then I fell asleep. That's all that happened." Yoh said, looking up at his parents.

"Yoh, there is something you should know about Hao." Queen Keiko said, calmly.

"What is it?" Yoh asked, somewhat confused.

"Well, Hao is your ancestor, as well as your older twin brother." Queen Keiko answered.

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked, completely shocked.

"Hao was born one thousand years ago as the one who originally formed the Asakura family, his was strength was known throughout all the kingdom and he was well respected. Though because of his strength was also feared and thus many humans hated him out of fear. Hao could also read minds so he was called a demon for his ability's and one day, he had had enough. Hao swore that he would destroy all humans for there sin's. No one could really blame him for his anger but the Asakura's couldn't exactly let him destroy all humans, so he was killed." King Mikihisa paused for a moment before continuing.

"Hao has reincarnated sense then and every time he came back the heir to the Asakura family would always kill him and prevent him from destroying humans. When Hao reincarnated into this life he intended to kill the next Asakura heir, in other words Yoh, but his strength hadn't returned yet and I managed to prevent him from killing Yoh at the time of their birth." King Mikihisa explained.

"I know I met Hao yesterday but he didn't do anything, so why are you all so worried?" Yoh asked, looking around at everyone.

"When Hao brought you back he left a note saying that he was no longer interested in killing you, now he actually wants to have you. He said that he would take you tonight, that way we could explain everything first." Queen Keiko said, sadly.

"What?" Yoh gasped, his eyes growing wide.

"We don't intend to let him have you, you're our son and we will make sure you are safe." King Mikihisa said, now turning his attention to Amidamaru.

"Amidamaru, I want you to stay by Yoh's side, don't leave unless it is absolutely necessary or someone else is watching him, understood?" King Mikihisa asked.

"Yes, your majesty." Amidamaru replied, instantly.

King Mikihisa nodded at Amidamaru's response."It's 4:00pm right now so I don't think Hao will come for a few more hours, but still be careful."

"Yes dad." Yoh said, leaving the room shortly after.

XxX

The next three and a half hours were rather uneventful. '_The only interesting thing that happened for the entire day was when Joco told a very bad joke and Ren and Horohoro actually worked together to try to put a hole through Joco's nose._' Yoh thought, sitting on the bed in his room.

"Prince Yoh, shouldn't you get ready for your bath now?" Amidamaru asked, snapping Yoh out of his thoughts.

"Yea, thanks for reminding me." Yoh said, grabbing his black and white PJ's and a towel before walking to the out door bath.

"I'll wait behind the other side of the door, call me if you need me, alright?" Amidamaru asked.

"Alright, thanks." Yoh replied, then he walked over to one edge of the bath and sat down. Yoh calmly closed his eyes, enjoying this time he had to relax. '_Today was so stressful, I can't believe they never told me that I had an evil twin._' Yoh thought, half joking. '_The water is really nice though._'

"I agree." Hao said, appearing next to Yoh.

Yoh's eyes flashed open."Ha-" Hao reached over and cupped his hand over Yoh's mouth before he could finish the word. The water splashed as Yoh tried to push him back but Hao over powered him and used his free hand to pin Yoh's hands behind his back.

"There wont be any of that, Otouto." Hao hissed in Yoh's ear, causing Yoh to shiver.

Yoh looked up at Hao with fear in his eyes. "I'll take my hand off your mouth if you promise not yell, ok?" Hao said, looking down at Yoh. Yoh nodded slowly and Hao carefully took his hand off Yoh's mouth. Yoh stared at Hao for a few minutes before speaking.

"Will you let my hands go now?" Yoh asked, cautiously.

"Will you run away if I do?" Hao asked in response.

"No." Yoh answered, quietly. Hao released Yoh's hands and sat down next to him.

"I'm sure our parents already explained everything." Hao said, looking over to Yoh.

Yoh merely nodded in response while Hao smirked.

"I am going to take you with me once your alone, unfortunately you're not yet." Hao said, glancing towards the glass door where they could see Amidamaru's shadow. "I'll come for you later, so be prepared." After Hao had finished talking he disappeared in a mas of flames.

Yoh sighed as he got out of the bath. He dried of and put on his pajama pants then he buttoned up his pajama shirt and brushed out his hair. Yoh went back into the house and quietly walked to his room, he didn't say a word about what happened to Amidamaru in fear of what Hao would do if he did. Amidamaru had other duties to attend to so he left a few spirits to watch Yoh and alert the entire castle if something happened, then he left to work on his other responsibilities.

Yoh walked over to his bed and laid down, he thought about everything that happened that day and he eventually fell asleep with thoughts of Hao in mind.

xXx

Hao used his shamanic abilities to throw out all the spirits and open the windows, he came in Yoh's room through one of window he opened. Hao walked over to Yoh's bed and carefully picked Yoh up, he stared thoughtfully at Yoh's sleeping face. Hao then carried Yoh over to the window, he stood in front of the opening and waited. '_3...2...1... right about..._'

"Hao!" The King and Queen screeched, charging through doors with what seemed like the entire palace guard at their heels.

'_Now._' Hao smirked as he finished the thought. "I told you I would take him, now I intend to keep my word." Hao said, giving one last look to the horrified King and Queen before teleporting back to his own castle still holding the sleeping Yoh.

'_I'm surprised that he's such a deep sleeper._' Hao thought as he gently placed Yoh on his bed. Hao leaned over and gave Yoh a soft kiss on his lips before taking a seat at the edge of the bed. '_I look forward to when you wake up... Otouto._'

XxX

**Ok, this chapter took a bit longer than I had expected.**

**Boblove123:** I'm sorry for ending my last story quickly, I'm glad you like this one though.^ ^

**SK-fan7:** I'll try to work a bit more on the descriptions now, thanks for letting me know about that though and thank you for reading my story. :)

**Lightning-Claire:** I'm glad you like it.^ ^


	3. Rules

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for a dangerous tone.**

Underline stands for writing.

HaoxYoh

XxX

Yoh slowly began to wake up, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in his room. "Where am I?" Yoh asked groggily.

"Your in a guest room in my castle." Hao replied, looking over at Yoh.

Yoh instantly sat up and looked at Hao, his eyes were wide with surprise. "Hao?... Why am I in your castle?" Yoh stuttered.

"Because I took you with me while you were asleep." Hao stated simply. "You're free to wander the castle as much as you like, just don't go past the gates." Hao said as he walked out the door, leaving Yoh to his thoughts.

"..." Yoh stared at the door for about an hour before he finally got up and decided to walk around. Yoh explored the castle for the entire day. The most amazing thing about the castle could only be seen outside, the outer walls of the castle were burning and the roof was on fire, it was surprising that the fire didn't burn the actual castle. '_The Burning Castle... I think that name would suit this place well._' Yoh thought as he walked back inside the castle. Yoh found it strange that he had been roaming the castle the whole day and yet he hadn't seen Hao at all. Yoh walked in the dining room and saw that dinner was already made but Hao was still nowhere in sight. There was a note on the table that said:

**I'm a little busy today so feel free to eat without me. Just so you know, there are only two rules in this castle so far. First rule, don't go outside the gates. Second rule, don't go in my room unless I give you permission. If you break ether of the rules, there will be a punishment and I can't guarantee what will happen to you. ** Yoh stared blankly at the note for a moment before sitting down to eat. '_I can't guarantee what will happen to you?... I'm not sure what that means but until I get a better idea of Hao's personality, I don't want to chance anything._' Yoh thought while he ate. After Yoh was done eating he went to the up stairs bathroom and put on his pajamas, once he was ready to go to bead he began wandering the upper half of the castle. '_I wonder where I'm supposed to sleep?_' Yoh thought as he walked around the castle. Eventually he reached a door with his name on it so we went inside, the room was simple but pleasant. Yoh slowly walked walked over to the bed and laid down, within a few minutes he was fast asleep.

XxX

The next few days were a lot like the first, Yoh would wander the castle alone and Hao would be gone, eventually Yoh began to wonder why Hao had even kidnapped in the first place. Usually if someone had wanted to kill someone else and then later they changed their mind and decided they wanted to keep that person they would have a reason, unfortunately Yoh hadn't been able to find Hao's reason yet. Yoh had just finished getting ready for bed when a thought came to him. '_Hm... maybe there's something in his room that could tell me._' Yoh walked around upstairs until he eventually reached the door to Hao's room. Yoh hesitated, the note had said that there were only two rules in the castle, did he really want to break one of them? The note had also said that there would be a punishment for breaking the rules, but it couldn't be that bad... could it? Hao was usually gone all day so if Yoh was quick then maybe he wouldn't get caught...

Yoh slowly turned the door handle and entered Hao's room, it was a lot different than he had expected. The room was a modern, Asian style bedroom. There was only one window in the room, it had simple red curtains hanging over it. The walls were a dark violet and the was a soft red rug on the floor in front of the bed. The bed was normal sized with with two black pillows at the front with black sheets and blankets covering the rest of the bed. Yoh was so absorbed in the sight of the room that he didn't even notice the door shut closed behind him. Yoh froze as he felt two strong arms come from behind him and wrap around his chest and waist.

"Why are you in my room, Yoh?" Hao whispered softly in Yoh's ear.

"H-Hao..." Yoh stuttered, shivering slightly as he felt Hao's breath on his ear.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Hao held Yoh a little tighter as he asked.

"Um... I was wondering why you kidna-, I mean took me with you. I thought that there might be an answer in your room." Yoh said quietly as he tried to back out of Hao's hold.

"I see..." Hao cooed as he tightened his grip on Yoh. "But you still broke one of the rules, so there will be a punishment... I'll give you one of three options for you to choose your own punishment from and after you choose, the punishment that you pick will stay with you for any time that you break a rule in the future. First, I can let the spirit of fire torture you for several hours. Second, I can take you back with me to your castle and let you watch as I kill one of your friends. Third, I can amuse myself with you for a while." Hao chuckled as he let Yoh go.

Yoh turned around so that he was now facing Hao, his eyes were wide in fear, he looked down at the ground for a moment before answering. "The last one... But what do you mean by amuse-" Yoh was cut off as Hao pushed him on the bed and then crawled on top of him so that he was now straddling Yoh's hips. Hao pinned Yoh's wrists above his head with one hand and then he looked down at the wide eyed Yoh.

"You're about to find out, _Otouto_." Hao smirked as he leaned over and connected his lips to his younger twins. Yoh instantly tried to push Hao off, but Hao was much stronger than him and he easily kept a firm hold on Yoh's wrists as he pressed his tongue in between Yoh's lips, begging for entrance into Yoh's mouth. Yoh ignored Hao's tongue for the moment as he continued to struggle while trying desperately to break free. Eventually Yoh gave up and he reluctantly opened his mouth, Hao's smirked widened as his tongue entered and he began exploring every part of Yoh's mouth very thoroughly. Yoh suppressed a loud moan when Hao's tongue brushed against his own. After about four minutes Hao broke the kiss, leaving Yoh blushing, trembling and out of breath.

"Well, considering the fact that this is your first time breaking one of the rules, I'll leave it at a warning for now." Hao said as he slowly got off of Yoh and walked towards the door.

"Hao... Why did you bring me to your castle?" Yoh asked, carefully sitting up while still trying to catch his breath.

Hao turned around and looked at Yoh with an unreadable expression on his face. "To try to get you to fall in love with me." Hao replied, staring into Yoh's confused eyes. Then Hao turned around and left the room, as Hao walked down the hallway he became submerged within his thoughts. '_I'm surprised that I actually managed to hold back, I wonder if I'll be able to do it twice? If not, I'm not sure that Yoh will be so lucky as to be let off with just a warning next time... Yoh had better be careful while he's here, or I might just lose my control completely._' Hao thought with an amused expression as he decided to wander the castle while waiting for Yoh to snap out of his own thoughts.

XxX

**This chapter is a bit shorter then the last few... I know I tried to put more descriptions, I hope it turned out well.**

**Please review.**


	4. 4 Weeks or 30 Days

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

HaoxYoh

xXx

After finally processing what just happened, Yoh slowly came to realize that he was still in Hao's room so he quickly got off the bed and ran down stairs. Yoh stopped once he reached the bottom steps, he carefully looked around to see if Hao was anywhere in sight and to his relief Hao was nowhere to be seen. Yoh walked carefully through the kitchen when the note of rules caught his eye, It looked as though it had been updated so Yoh read the new rules carefully.

**Because you broke a rule a few more will be added.** **First rule, don't go outside the gates. Second rule, don't go in my room unless I give you permission.** **Third rule, no going outside the castle at night unless I'm with you. Fourth rule, no talking to the spirit's outside the castle. Fifth rule, no going to the graveyard unless you receive my permission beforehand. Oh and there will be two vital rules where the punishment will be the worst. Don't try to escape and don't try to fight me unless it's a challenge or a part of training. ** Yoh shivered slightly after reading the last two sentences. '_Two vital rules?_' Yoh thought as he carefully set the note back down. '_It's also against the rules to talk to the spirit's outside the castle, Hao knows that that's something that I usually usually do... Hao's taunting me, trying to get me to break the rules. I'll have to try hard to remember but I think I can go a while without breaking any of them._' Yoh thought as he began to wander the castle once again. It was already night and Yoh knew he couldn't go outside so he went back up stairs to his room and went to bed, thinking of the two vital rules.

XxX

Hao watched carefully to make sure that Yoh was in a deep sleep before he went back to the King and Queen's castle. Hao knew that the king and queen would try something soon to get Yoh back so he had been watching them ever sense he had taken Yoh. Now Hao was sitting in one of the highest corner window seals where no one could see him and he was once again listening to their plans of how they would try to rescue their dear son.

"Why don't we try to sneak into his castle at around this time tomorrow and take prince Yoh back while Hao is asleep?" Amidamaru suggested.

"It wouldn't work, Hao is a light sleeper and he usually stays up at night training." King Mikihisa replied sorrowfully.

"You said that Hao likes to taunt others, that means he probably lets Yoh walk around outside the castle and just doesn't let him go out side the gate. If that's the case, then why don't we hide nearby and wait for Yoh to walk by the gate and take him back with us then?" Ren asked carefully.

"... That might work. But if he really does let Yoh outside then why doesn't Yoh come back on his own?" Queen Keiko asked while pacing worriedly.

"Yoh _is_ with Hao at the moment, Hao might have threatened to torture him if he tried to leave, so he might not come with us at first. If we show Yoh that we can protect him this time though, then we will probably be able to get him back." King Mikihisa said thoughtfully. "We'll go there in four weeks, that way we'll have time to prepare in case any thing goes wrong."

"Understood, your Majesty." Everyone replied before they all left to get some sleep.

Hao merely watched in mild amusement as they left. '_So they're going to make their move in a month... I guess I wont __have to worry about anything annoying from them until then._' Hao smirked. '_That means that I can spend my time annoying my Otouto._' Hao chuckled slightly as he teleported back to his own castle and walked upstairs to his room. '_This month is going to be a lot of fun._' Hao thought as he went to sleep.

XxX

"Wake up Otouto." Hao said with a devious smile as he walked over to the edge of Yoh's bed.

"Hao!" Yoh exclaimed as he shot out of bed, he tripped over the sheets while trying to back away from Hao. As Yoh fell Hao tried to catch him, it didn't go and planned though and they both ended falling in the process. Hao had to admit, ignoring the pain in his head from when he hit the floor, the position they were in was quite amusing. Hao was laying on his back underneath Yoh who was a little disoriented and dizzy from the fall, apparently during the night Yoh got hot because he wasn't wearing his pajama shirt and his bare chest was easily visible from where Hao was. Yoh was laying over Hao with both his hands unintentionally pinning both of Hao's hands against the ground. Hao took a deep breath as he tried to keep his emotions in check while Yoh was coming back to his senses.

"Are you alright Yoh?" Hao asked in an amused tone.

"I-I'm fine." Yoh said blushing slightly as he noticed their positions.

"Would you mind getting off me?" Hao asked calmly. Yoh nodded is response as he carefully got up and at Hao with a confused expression.

"Normally you're gone during the day, why are you back now?" Yoh asked cautiously.

"Were you worried? I didn't realize you cared so much about me, Otouto." Hao said with a smirk as he stood up.

Yoh blushed considerably. "I-I wasn't... I just... Well I..." Yoh stuttered while trying to think of the right thing to say.

Hao was trying his best not to laugh, he never realized how much fun messing with Yoh could be. "Well, breakfast is ready so you should come down soon." Hao said as he walked out the door.

'_…What was that about?_' Yoh thought as he started getting dressed. Yoh wore a simple white T-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. Yoh walked downstairs to the dining room where Hao was waiting for him so that they could eat. It was pretty quiet while they ate, Yoh couldn't help but stare as Hao took finished the last of his breakfast. Yoh noticed that Hao was wearing different earrings today, they were simple small silver hoops which were mush like his own. Hao also wore a pair of gray cargo pants and he wasn't wearing a shirt so his tanned muscles were visible. '_Why isn't he wearing a shirt?_' Yoh thought while he noticed that Hao had turned his gaze towards him.

"Am I really that interesting to look at, Otouto? You've been staring for quite a while." Hao said with a slight chuckle.

Yoh blushed and looked away, he quickly took both his and Hao's dishes to the kitchen and began washing all of the dishes. Yoh usually didn't like working, but at the moment he just wanted to get out of the dining room and the excuse of washing the dishes seemed like the only one that would work. It took Yoh twenty minutes to finish washing the dishes and when he was done he decided to take a walk outside, unfortunately Hao decided to come with him. The walk was strangely quiet and peaceful, Yoh had expected Hao to say or do something to make him uneasy but he was surprisingly quiet. The only time that Hao talked was when he suggested that they watch the clouds together, Yoh happily agreed and that's what they decided to do for the past twelve hours. Even after the sun set they watched the stars in quiet until Hao broke the silence.

"Yoh, in about 30 days I'm going to do something special to or for you. Whether that 'something' is good or bad depends on your actions before that time... It's late, lets go back inside now." Hao said with something that Yoh had never seen from Hao before, a brotherly smile.

"...Ok." Yoh replied hesitantly as he walked back to the castle with Hao, wondering what that 'something special' thing was.

XxX

**Hao:** The author put both of us in the author's note this time?... That's unusual for non one-shot's.

**Yoh:** Oh well, sense we're here we may as well say it.

**Hao and Yoh:** Thank you for reading this chapter and Please review:)


	5. Week 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

HaoxYoh

XxX

Yoh was a little worried about what Hao had said five days ago so he decided that until the remaining 25 days were over he would try his best not to get Hao pissed off. Yoh walked through the forest while lost in thought. It was a little strange how after Hao had told him about the 30 day 'something' he had been acting a bit differently ever sense then. First of all, he hardly ever left the castle. Second, Hao seemed to be a bit nicer now, although he did still tease him. Third, unlike before Hao always seems to be nearby. Yoh was also thinking about why Hao had decided to take him in the first place. "To try to get you to fall in love with me." Was Hao's reply, but why would he want that?

Yoh was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice that he had unintentionally walked into the graveyard. All of the spirit's had passed on in fear of being eaten by the Spirit of Fire if they didn't so Yoh didn't even notice he was in the grave yard until he almost tripped over one of the tombstones. '_This will have been my second time breaking a rule and Hao said that the first punishment was only a warning._' Yoh thought worriedly. Yoh looked around expecting to see Hao nearby as usual but he was surprised when he saw that Hao was nowhere to be seen. '_That's strange, usually he isn't more than 20 feet away from me... Oh right, I have to get out of here before Hao __**does**__ come._' Yoh thought before he got up and ran, leaving the graveyard as quickly as possible. By the time Yoh had stopped running he was back at the castle, he opened the door and carefully looked around, he saw Hao apparently giving the Spirit of Fire a... cookie? Which it ate happily.

"Did you enjoy your walk Yoh?" Hao asked simply.

"Yea, I saw a cloud that looked like a flower on my way back." Yoh replied with a smile.

"Yoh, do you know why the king and queen never let you have a guardian spirit?" Hao asked curiously.

"They said it was because Amidamaru was there to protect me and I'm not the only one, Ren doesn't have one ether and for the same reason." Yoh replied.

"That's what they told you?" Hao asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Why?" Yoh asked, somewhat confused.

"First of all, the Tao family has a tradition where the heir has to be trained without a spirit until the age of sixteen. Afterward they get a spirit and begin training with that spirit until they take over as head of the family at age eighteen and after that they receive the guardian ghost of the Tao family. You didn't get a guardian spirit because you're the heir. The king and queen told you about how I was killed in all of my past lives by the Asakura heir, and how I tried to kill you so that wouldn't happen, right?" Hao asked.

"Yea." Yoh replied uncertainly.

"What they didn't tell you is that in all of my past lives I also tried to recruit the heir each time. The second time I actually succeeded in doing so and I almost completed my goal of completely destroying humans. Ever sense that time it became a rule that the Asakura heir was not allowed to have a spirit until ether after they were crowned king or after they met me and understood the danger in letting me live." Hao explained.

"That actually explains a lot. But why would you tell me?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

"I just thought that you should know. Oh, and dinner is going to be done in an hour." Hao said as he walked over towards the kitchen.

Yoh merely stood there and watched as Hao made dinner, it was surprising that Hao knew how to cook. '_…Hao's actually not that bad once you get used to him, and as long as you don't break any rules._' Yoh thought as he walked upstairs. Hao gave a slight smile as he saw Yoh leave. '_At least he's not acting like a scared mouse when he's near me anymore, it's not much, but it's an improvement... I wont do anything to severe for punishment until after the 25 days, but I still have to do something that wont cause me to lose control to easily... Hm, there's an idea._' Hao thought as the timer for the food went off.

"Yoh! The food is done." Hao called up the stairs.

Yoh herd Hao calling and quickly ran downstairs and sat down at the table to eat, Hao sat down next to him and they ate together in silence. After Yoh was done he went to go do the dishes, a habit he seemed to have formed shortly after Hao brought him to the castle. It took five minutes for him to finish washing the dishes and as soon as he was done he went upstairs to go put his pajamas on. After Yoh had finished buttoning up the shirt he decided to walk around the castle one more time before he went to bed.

As Yoh was walking around the castle he bumped into the Spirit of Fire once, the Spirit f Fire merely looked down at him with an uninterested expression before teleporting elsewhere. Yoh stared at the spot where the Spirit of Fire was for a moment before he continued walking. Once Yoh was finished walking around he went back upstairs. As Yoh was walking down the hall he stopped once he reached the door to Hao's room. '_Please Great Spirit, don't make me regret this._' Yoh prayed silently as he hesitantly knocked on the door.

"Come in." Hao called from inside the room.

Yoh carefully opened the door and walked inside the room, it was the same as the first time that he had come in with the exception of Hao sitting on the bed looking up at him.

"Is their something you need Yoh?" Hao asked, slightly amused.

"Um... You said that you wanted and tried to kill me before right?" Yoh asked slowly.

"...That's right." Hao replied cautiously.

"When and why did you change your mind and decide that you wanted me instead of killing me?" Yoh asked calmly.

"Usually when you want someone dead you watch them and wait for the right time to strike. While I was watching you for those 16 years my feelings for you began to change. After a while I eventually ended up falling for you without even realizing it. That time when we were talking, shortly after you fell asleep, I finally realized what that feeling was and that's when I decided that you _would_ be mine." Hao answered.

"...Thank you for talking to me, I think I'll go back to my room now." Yoh said before leaving Hao's room.

Yoh walked across the hall and he went into his room, closing the door behind him. '_That last note was a bit more possessive than I thought it would be._' Yoh thought as he walked further into his room. Yoh stopped walking when he herd the door open and close from behind him.

"I almost forgot about something Otouto." Hao said as he walked over towards Yoh.

"W-what would that be?" Yoh asked nervously, backing up against the wall.

"You broke another one of the rules this mourning." Hao replied as he put his hand against the wall, right next to Yoh.

"So... I guess it's... time for punishment?" Yoh stuttered.

"That's right, but I can make it not so harsh for you, if-." Hao said with a smirk.

"...If?" Yoh asked questioningly.

"If you kiss me." Hao whispered into Yoh's ear, causing him to blush considerably.

'_What? He wants me to kiss him? Why?... But if I don't... I'm sure whatever punishment he has in mind will be a heck of a lot worse..._' Yoh thought desperately as Hao took a few steps back.

"Your answer?" Hao asked simply.

"...Alright." Yoh replied hesitantly.

Yoh took a deep breath as he moved in closer connected his lips to Hao's. Once their lips were connected Hao took over by pressing his tongue in between Yoh's lips. Yoh didn't try to do anything to push Hao off like last time, instead he let Hao's tongue explore inside his mouth without putting up a fight. Hao was a bit surprised at Yoh's lack of a struggle so he broke the kiss for a moment and tried sliding one of his hands up Yoh's shirt, that got the reaction that he was expecting. Yoh instantly tried to push Hao back but failed when Hao pushed him against the wall and reconnected his lips with Yoh's. After about a minute Hao broke the kiss and backed away.

"I told you it wouldn't be so harsh." Hao said as he walked out of the room leaving Yoh to get some sleep.

XxX

**Me: **That took longer than I expected...

**Lyserg:** Please Review.

**Me:**... (_Why did I out him in the author's note again?_)


	6. The Game

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

HaoxYoh

XxX

Yoh had been avoiding Hao for the past few days, he realized that being around Hao was dangerous. But the reason why it was dangerous, wasn't because Hao was evil or a killer. It was because if he got too close to Hao, he might just end up falling for him. Yoh wasn't really sure how he felt about Hao right now. There were several reasons why it would never work out though, the most important ones were that, A. they were both guys, B. Hao wanted to destroy the human race, and C. they were twin brothers. Yoh sighed as he walked down stairs he needed to think of a way to sort things out. To be honest, he actually wanted their family to just get along. But unless Hao was willing to give up the whole _destroying humans_ idea and his parents were willing to accept him, that wouldn't happen. '_I guess being with Hao wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't trying to destroy the human race... I wonder if I could play a certain game with him. It might help me realize if I have feelings for him and possibly get him to change his mind about humans. Well I hope things work like I'm planning, if it goes wrong, it will probably end badly for me._' Yoh thought as he went into the kitchen. Hao was still asleep and Yoh wanted to surprise him when he woke up. For the next hour he worked hard on making breakfast and after six failed attempts it finally looked edible. After he got everything ready he asked the Spirit of Fire to go wake Hao up. Hao wasn't thrilled to be woken up early, much less by a small Spirit of Fire jumping on him to wake him up. He reluctantly got out of bed and went over to Yoh's room and surprisingly, it was empty. He went back to his room and got dressed in a pair of simple grey sweatpants before going down stairs to make breakfast. When he got downstairs he was surprised to see that breakfast was already made and Yoh was waiting patiently at the table so that they could start eating.

"Am I still dreaming?" Hao asked as he sat down next to Yoh.

"No, I just thought I would try something knew." Yoh replied while taking a bite of his food.

Hao looked surprised for a moment but shook it of as he began eating. For breakfast Yoh had made eggs, bacon, and toast with a few grapes on the side. Hao had already fished everything on his plate when he looked over at Yoh, who was finishing the last of his grapes. The way that Yoh's tongue played with the grape before swallowing it made him wonder if he could do the same thing in a kiss. Hao was so absorbed watching Yoh finish the last of his grapes that it surprised him a little when Yoh turned to look at him. Yoh leaned closer to him and gently licked the bottom of his lip, Hao wasn't sure whether to feel surprised or amused so he decided to wait for Yoh's response to decide.

"You had a crumb." Yoh replied simply to the unasked question.

Hao smirked as he began to understand the situation, Yoh was playing a very dangerous game, this could turn out to be very fun. Yoh got up and went outside to go watch the clouds before Hao had a chance to respond. Yoh walked over to the nearest hill and sat on the grass, looking up at the clouds. '_I wonder how the game will end. Will I end up convincing Hao to give up on destroying humans and join our family? Will we actually be able to be like brothers? Will it turn out badly and end with Hao becoming even more possessive? There are a lot of possible outcomes for this game. The changing game could turn out ether good or bad, I hope I can play it right._' Yoh thought as he watched a cloud that looked like a star. Hao watched Yoh from a distance as he continued to watch the clouds. '_A changing game? That's different than what I thought it was. It sounds fun though, I think I'll play too. Yoh's objective of the game is to get me to give up on destroying humans, become a part of the Asakura family, and be like an older brother. My objective of the game will be to get Yoh to love me, cut ties with the rest of the family, and to destroy all humans. I wonder... Who will win?_' Hao thought with a smirk.

"Yoh, would you like to go to the village with me today?" Hao asked as he walked over to him.

Yoh looked up at Hao in surprise, he wasn't expecting him to be there and he also wasn't expecting that question. "Wouldn't it be a bad idea? The entire kingdom wants me back." Yoh asked sheepishly.

"The festival doesn't end for another week, all we would have to do is wear masks." Hao replied with a simple shrug.

"Ok then. I'd love to go." Yoh said, slowly getting up and taking Hao's hand.

The next thing Yoh knew, they were both at the entrance of the village. Hao handed him a yin mask wile he put on a yang mask. '_Hao has a strange sense of humor._' Yoh thought with a small laugh. The two of them walked around the village together. After they got a few things from the store Hao left to go do something, what that something was, Yoh had no idea. Yoh considered going back to the castle but quickly decided against it, if he managed to win the game then everything would work out. He only hoped that he would be the one who won, because it looked like Hao was playing too.

Even though the king and queen decided to wait until after the remaining weeks were over that didn't mean that they wouldn't stop searching. Hao knew this and that was exactly why he was searching for one of the guards. He had already thought of a plan that would help him win the game. All he needed to do was find a castle guard and then put his plan into motion. He only had to search for a few more minutes until he saw Bason, Tao Ren's guardian, this could prove better than he had originally planned. Hao waited until Bason had left Ren's side before he walked by him on his way back to Yoh. Bason had noticed him and was now following him, just like he had anticipated. Hao went back to Yoh and told him that it was time to go back to the castle. Yoh pouted when he told him that they were walking though. The entire time that they walked back to the castle he kept track of Bason, who was following them quietly. Once they got back Hao decided to _reward_ Bason for unknowingly helping him with his plan, he would give Bason quite an interesting view to tell everyone at the castle about.

Yoh knew that Bason had been following them for a while, but he wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or worried that Hao hadn't done anything about it. Hao was definitely planning something, he only hoped that nothing would go wrong and he wouldn't lose the game because of it. Once they arrived at the front gate Hao put walked over to a nearby tree. Yoh decided that he had had enough of not knowing so he walked over to Hao to ask what he was planning. Yoh was about to ask what Hao was intending to do when Hao grabbed his shoulder and pinned him against the tree. Hao smirked at him and his eyes grew wide as he realized what Hao's plan actually was. The next moment Hao's lips were locked with Yoh's in a rough and demanding kiss. Yoh tried to push him off, but to no avail, Hao was still stronger and he had no intention of breaking the kiss just yet. Hao pressed a little closer which caused Yoh to gasp from the contact. Once Yoh stopped fighting as harshly Hao began biting softly on his neck, making sure to let Bason see how much Yoh was trembling. Hao let Yoh go when they herd Bason leave, after regaining his breath Yoh was finally able to speak again.

"What are you planing?" Yoh asked with a glare, which Hao thought was very cute.

"We both have three objectives to this little game, once one of us loses all three objectives and the other succeeds in at least one of theirs, the game will be over." Hao said as he sat down next to Yoh.

"And?" Yoh asked, slightly nervous.

Hao smirked and leaned in closer to Yoh so that he was right next to his ear. "_And_, with that little stunt, I'll never be accepted into the Asakura family. So that's strike one, _Otouto_."

XxX

Me: I thought I should let you know that I'll be leaving soon and I'll be gone for a little while.

Morphine:...

Me: I'm leaving tomorrow and I'll be back in late August. I wont be able to post that often but I'll try to post when I can.

Morphine:... (_Thanks for reading and listening to her pointless rambling in the authors note, please review._)


	7. Ren's Idea

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

HaoxYoh

XxX

'_Ok, that makes things a bit more complicated._' Yoh thought as he stood up and stepped away from the tree. Yoh took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down and relax. Yoh almost laughed at the thought, he never thought he would see the day when he needed to relax. After all the times that he fell asleep in the middle of a conversation or started daydreaming in class, no one would have even considered that there would be a day when he would need to calm down. Yoh looked back at Hao, who was still sitting beneath the tree, before letting his thoughts go back to Bason. Bason would probably tell Ren about what he saw first and if that happened then the king and queen might not find out about it for a while. Ren is fairly cool headed unless someone insults him, his family, his friends, or his honor. If Ren is the first one to hear about it, then he probably would try to keep it secret until he knows more about what is going on. Hao got up and walked over to the front gate.

"Are you coming?" Hao asked as he opened the door.

Yoh was to busy wrapped around in his own thoughts to reply so he just followed silently. It was getting pretty late and there wasn't really any reason to stay up so Yoh said good night and went up to his room. After finally sorting out his thoughts he quickly fell asleep. Hao was watching the stars outside and thinking of how to get rid of Yoh's two remaining strikes when he began to wonder what everyone in the palace was doing right now.

XxX

Ren walked up to his room while thinking about what Bason had told him earlier. Hao was Yoh's ancestor and his older twin brother. Why would he kiss him? The more that Ren thought about it the more his head hurt, he didn't like having to think about something which defied his sense of logic. Ren slammed the door to his room closed, letting the servants know not to enter. When Ren sat down and took a moment to actually think about it, it kind of made sense. Yoh was the easygoing type that everyone seemed to love. If Hao truly did care for Yoh then things might not be as bad as they seem. Like everyone else, Ren thought that Hao had taken Yoh in order to get back at the Asakura's, but now he was starting to think differently. Ren needed to find out more was happening before he made any decisions so for now he would wait. Patience was not one of his strong points, but that didn't mean that he didn't have any. Ren fell asleep wondering about what was really going on inside the twin's heads.

XxX

The next morning Ren started walking around the castle searching for Fen, his bird which could strangely speak Chinese. Once he found her he told her to go watch the twins and report back to him with news on what exactly was going on. Fen nodded in understanding and then took flight to the burning castle. When Fen was out of sight Ren went back inside the Asakura's castle and quickly headed towards the dining room. Everyone stared at him once he arrived, he was late for breakfast. Ren was surprised to see that his parents and sister were there too. After he sat down the King and Queen explained that his parents were 'worried' about him and had come to see that he was alright. Ren wasn't happy about his parents arrival especially because he knew the _real_ reason why they were there. He was turning sixteen tomorrow and soon he would begin training with a spirit. His parents hardly ever left their kingdom for anything other that traditions or emergencies. At least they weren't here because the prince was missing, that would cause a lot of unneeded trouble. Once he was finished eating he went after Horohoro and Joco thinking that despite how dense they both could be, they might also be able to help. Luckily for Ren the two of them were walking down the hall together, Joco was telling bad joked and Horohoro was trying to drown out the sound. Ren walked up to them and started a completely random conversation while Horohoro gave him a look of thanks and confusion. Joco and Horohoro quickly noticed that while Ren was talking he was also leading them to someplace where no one else could hear them. They figured that Ren would explain once they were there so they just made pointless comments about the conversation. Ren led them to the old library that was usually forgotten about. Once they were inside with the door closed behind them Horohoro and Joco told Ren to give them an explanation.

"No one's around now tell us what's up Ren." Horohoro demanded.

"Well, Bason saw Hao in town yesterday and followed him and Yoh back to their castle. Once the two of them arrived at the gate Hao pinned Yoh against the tree and kissed him." Ren explained, quickly covering Horohoro's mouth to prevent him from shouting.

Horohoro bit Ren's hand and surprisingly he didn't shout. "He did what?" Horohoro whispered.

"Apparently Hao kissed Yoh." Joco echoed, for the first time in his life he was unable to think of a joke for the situation.

"What can we do about that?" Horohoro asked in shock.

"Although we are Yoh's friends and I'm not exactly eager to join the side of evil, I think that we should help Hao try to win Yoh over." Ren said, plugging his ears for what he knew was coming next.

"WHAT!?" Horohoro and Joco exclaimed.

Ren had to wait a moment for the ringing in his ears to stop before he could respond. "Think about it, we all thought that Hao had taken Yoh in order to get back at the Asakura's, but if he actually has feelings for Yoh then I don't think that it's dangerous for him to stay. I don't know much about what's really going on, but I think that it might be better for Yoh if he and Hao are together. Yoh is also the calmest person we know and he seems to have the best way with words. If he stays, he might just convince Hao not to destroy the entire human race." Ren explained.

"But Hao's evil, there's no telling what he could do to Yoh." Horohoro protested.

"Yes but if Hao had wanted to do Yoh harm then he easily could have by now and if he was hurting Yoh then Bason would have reported any injuries he saw instead of the make-out scene." Ren pointed out.

"But what about Yoh? How do you think he feels about Hao trying to woo him?" Horohoro challenged.

"Probably the same as you did when I first started trying to pursue you, only I wasn't your brother and the entire kingdom didn't think I was evil." Ren replied.

"So he's probably confused, stressed and unsure of what to do." Horohoro said questioningly.

"Plus he isn't interested in guys." Joco added.

"Yes, but there's one thing that you two seem to be forgetting... You cant fall for someone that you don't love. If you two are right about Yoh being uninterested then it won't matter what we do, Yoh wont waver and his feelings will stay the same." Ren explained.

"..._Sigh_, you have a point. If I didn't like you back when you were pursuing me then we wouldn't be dating now." Horohoro said reluctantly.

"Then I guess it's agreed, but i'm still wondering about something. Why didn't you tell Anna, Tamao or Lyserg about this?" Joco asked curiously.

"Because Lyserg's stubborn and wont change his opinion about Hao being evil, Tamao would probably pass out or accidentally tell someone else and Anna is a homophobic and she would probably go berserk if she found out... Any other questions?" Ren said impatiently.

Neither Horohoro or Joco spoke so Ren took that as a no and walked out of the library. Once they were all out they began talking about all of the ways that Ren's birthday could go wrong tomorrow. Joco thought that it would be great if Ren let him tell a few jokes to his family and was shocked when Ren agreed. Joco ran off to go think of more new jokes while Ren no longer had to think about how to punish his family for coming out to see him. Horohoro tried lecturing him about being nicer to his family but once Ren was done listening he quieted Horohoro with a kiss. After that Horohoro walked off to who-knows-where in a daze. Now Ren was walking alone again wondering about A, how he could help Hao win Yoh over and B, how to survive his birthday tomorrow without killing anyone... this could be harder than he thought.

XxX

Me: Finally, it's done *dies*

Ren: *pokes with a stick* You still have more stories to update.

Me: *Gets up and starts writing while mumbling darkly about Ren*

Ren: *Ignores mumbling and starts eating a random cookie that wasn't there before*

Ren: Please review.


	8. Failed attempt

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

"Underline stands for speaking in Chinese."

HaoxYoh

XxX

Fen flew around the burning castle and eventually landed on a tree branch just outside the window of the dining room. She decided to stay there and watch them as the day went on. Yoh was deep in thought wondering about how he could possibly win the game. The idea seemed to have really backfired on him. At least a few good things came out of it. The rules had mostly disappeared so now only two remained. 1 was that he couldn't go back to the king and queen's castle and 2 was that he couldn't try to fight against Hao unless it was a challenge or part of training. Hao mostly spent his time ether teasing him or reading. Yoh sighed and he let his thoughts travel back to when he first thought of the game. He thought that since it was his idea that he might have some sort of advantage, apparently not. Yoh finally thought of a way that he might be able to convince Hao not to destroy humans. If he could show Hao that not all humans were bad, he might just change his mind about destroying them. Yoh slowly got up and walked over to where Hao was sitting.

"Hey, Hao. Can we go for a walk?" Yoh asked with a smile.

"Is there someplace in particular that you want to go?" Hao asked, putting down his book.

"It's a secret." Yoh said happily.

Hao raised his eyebrow and he followed Yoh outside. The two of them walked for a few hours and Hao could tell that Yoh was getting tired. He suggested that they take a break but Yoh insisted that they continue walking. What could be so important to him that he wouldn't want to wait to see? Hao followed silently as they walked and tried reading Yoh's mind... '_Since when did he learn how to put up mind barriers?_' Hao thought with an amused smirk. Yoh finally stopped once they reached the edge of a valley overlooking a small village. Hao didn't have to think that hard to guess why Yoh brought him here. You could easily see the village from right here. The villagers were all working on feeding the animals, harvesting the crops, tending to the plants and cleaning up their environment. Yoh was trying to show him that humans actually cared about nature and were trying to protect it. Yoh was trying to change his mind about humans. After realizing this Hao smiled at Yoh, it wasn't a change-of-opinion smile, it was a I-have-something-to-show-you-too smile. Hao took Yoh's hand and began leading him somewhere else. Yoh didn't like the way that Hao didn't even give a second thought about his opinion of humans.

'_The mental barrier's gone_.' Hao thought. Yoh had to start running in order to keep up with him and the fact that they were running up a hill didn't help much. It took a lot longer for them to reach the place that Hao was leading them to. Once they were at the top of the hill Hao stopped and waited for Yoh. Yoh arrived at the top ten minutes later gasping and wondering how much stamina Hao had. Hao looked at Yoh and moved out of the way so that he could see the scenery, Yoh was shocked at what he saw. The valley below was completely flooded. Trees were pulverized, animals were struggling to swim from one side to the other. At the far end of the field a few guys were shooting the ones that couldn't swim away fast enough and carried what they killed back towards their village. Yoh looked around at all of the devastation. '_How could this happen?_' Yoh thought sadly. Yoh looked at Hao and his expression said it all, humans. Yoh looked around for the source of it all and saw a dam a little ways off into the distance.

"It's been there for 500 years. I was in a fight with Asakura clans heir and the last thing I saw before I died, was the valley being flooded as they closed the gate to the dam." Hao said calmly as he turned to leave.

Aside from the panting from trying to keep up with Hao's pace Yoh remained silent as he followed Hao back to the castle. Yoh's opinion changed slightly but he wasn't about to quit on trying to make Hao change his mind about humans. Hao noticed Yoh's change of thoughts and frowned. '_Will he ever give up?_' Hao thought with an exasperated sigh. Suddenly Yoh perked up and the mental barrier returned.

"Um, Hao? Is there any way that we can get back to the castle more quickly?" Yoh asked with a smile.

Hao simply shrugged and then teleported them both back to the castle.

XxX

Fen watched as Hao teleported back to his castle then she flew back to the Asakura's castle to tell Ren what she learned. Fen found Ren in the middle of the coming of age ceremony so she waited in a nearby tree until I was over. As the Tao tradition demanded, Bason was executed and became Ren's first guardian ghost. As Ren left the altar it was no secret that he was in a _very_ bad mood. No one told him that Bason would be his guardian ghost and Ren hated it when his family kept secrets from him. Joco, Horohoro and Lyserg all knew Ren well, they also knew that it would be wise to stay at least ten feet away from him until he calmed down. Ren stormed into the forest and away from everyone else, even Bason decided to stay back. Fen wondered if she should wait also but she then she remembered that Ren told her to report back to him once he was alone. She looked around and didn't sense anyone else, they were all back at the gathering. Fen waited until Ren calmed down a little before she flew down to him. Ren was slightly surprised to see Fen back so soon. He certainly hoped that she brought good news, if she didn't, Ren was probably going to go back and attack his father.

"What did you find out?" Ren asked as Fen perched on his shoulder.

"It appears as though they are playing a game of sorts. It seems like Hao wants Yoh to love him, leave the Asakura family, and help him eradicate humans. Yoh appears to want Hao to give up on getting rid of humans, become a part f the family, and be like an older brother. Today Yoh tried to show Hao the better side of people and Hao ended up showing him the worse. Even after hearing about what happened in the past Yoh doesn't hate Hao when anyone else in his situation would." Fen explained while tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"That's just who he is, I don't think that he can hate." Ren shrugged. "This is good news for me though, it means that Yoh might start thinking differently about Hao if we give Hao a little help. Hao isn't going about this in the right way. I need to tell him what he should change or Yoh will never change his mind about him.

"Is there anything else you wish for me to do, master Ren?" Fen asked while flying in front of him.

"Tell Hao this '...' and don't let Yoh see you yet." Ren said.

Once Fen received the message she flew back to the burning castle, leaving Ren to wonder about what to say to his father once he went back. Ren decided on a few curses and then went back to the party to _talk_ to his family. Once he came back Horohoro noticed that Ren was in a much better mood before. He found this a little strange seeing as how it usually took Ren a few hours to calm down. Ren walked to his father and started chatting with him while using a very colorful vocabulary. Jun quickly brought Ren over to his friends as their father went into a fit of rage. Lyserg and Joco didn't notice Ren's change of mood, to them he was still as furious before. If Horohoro wasn't particularly _close_ to Ren he might have thought the same. Ren glared at just about anyone who tried to talk with him and eventually Lyserg walked to him. Ren looked at Lyserg's expression and the strangest feeling that it wasn't going to be good news.

"What is it Lyserg?" Ren asked before taking a drink of milk.

"I've joined the X-Laws." Lyserg said quickly.

Ren tried to stop himself from choking on the milk as Lyserg's words set in. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he looked at Lyserg with a very surprised expression. "What?" Ren asked, still trying to recover from the previous statement.

"I. Have. Joined. The. X-Laws." Lyserg repeated a bit more slowly this time.

"But the X-Laws are a cruel team of shaman who follow the king and queen. They have a twisted sense of justice and will kill anyone who opposes them." Ren said, trying not to show his concern.

"Joining them is about the only way that I can help return prince Yoh to the castle." Lyserg said with a determined stare.

Lyserg walked away before Ren could say another word, clearly his mind was made up and there was nothing he could do to change that. He walked over to where Joco and Horohoro were sitting and told them what happened. Joco was speechless and Horohoro looked almost as surprised as Ren was, _almost_. Since Lyserg joined the X-Laws they would have to be a lot more careful when talking about the princes. Anyone that the X-Laws viewed as suspicious of treason would be imprisoned and probably tortured. Unless evidence was found that they were innocent an execution date would be set for a month after imprisonment. Treason was something that was not tolerated in this kingdom and trying to help Hao with anything would be considered nothing less than the worst kind of treason. Anyone found guilty of helping Hao would have their family wiped out and they would be executed on the spot.

XxX

Me: Fufufu

Yoh: Please review


	9. The Message

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

"Underline stands for speaking in Chinese."

HaoxYoh

XxX

Hao woke up really early the next morning, if you could call it that. He put on his pants, shoes, and earrings, then went outside for an early morning walk. It would be about another six hours before Yoh woke up. Hao walked to a clearing in the forest and sat down to watch the clouds. The sun wasn't up yet but the clouds were still fairly visible. The first cloud looked like a little girl, another cloud had the shape of a cat. Hao stopped watching the clouds when he sensed that something was watching him. Hao stood up and turned to face a bird that had appeared to have been watching him for a while. Hao recognized the bird as Tao Ren's messenger, he found it a bit amusing to find it here. Ren should be trying to get Yoh back to the king and queen, yet the messenger was apparently sent here for him.

"Do you have a message for me?" Hao asked curiously.

Fen nodded and then recalled the message. "If you want Yoh to fall for you then you need to go about things in a different way. It's ok to scare him like you've done before, but try not to seem like you don't care. The bird that is talking is called Fen. She watched the two of you yesterday and told me all that she saw. I believe that you should let Yoh succeed in wining one of his goals for the game. Try to be a bit more like a brother. If you get closer to Yoh then he might start to trust you. When you talk to him, sometimes he responds better than other times. That's because sometimes you're more approachable than other times. If he asks questions, answer them, and if he asks about a subject that you don't want to talk about, change the subject. According to Fen, you seem like a lot nicer of a person around Yoh, so show it. Yoh is a pretty easy going guy usually, he's just in a confusing situation right now. I'm fairly sure that you know my reasoning's for trying to help. Fen will fly between castles occasionally, that way we can keep track of what's going on in both castles... That's the message that master Ren told me to give to you." Fen chirped.

Ren was trying to help him? Interesting, this could turn out to be more interesting that he originally thought. When he thought about the idea of letting Yoh succeed in one of his goals, it reminded him of the saying: lose the battle to win the war. It appears as though friends do have their benefits after all, Ren could prove to be a decent asset. Hao smirked and Fen looked up at him questioningly.

"Tell Ren that I got his little message. Hm, because I don't feel like owing him, let him know that tomorrow the X-Laws are going to search the castle for any signs of a possible traitor. It'd be a shame if something happened to him." Hao said, feigning a concerned tone.

When he turned to leave he herd Fen fly away, probably to go back to the castle to warn Ren. He walked back to his own castle with several new ideas in mind. It was still pretty late out so he decided to go back to sleep. Yoh would probably wake up after him anyway.

xXx

Yoh woke up at about seven the next morning. He took off his pajamas and put on a pair of black jeans and a simple short sleeved dress shirt. Once he had finished putting his earrings in, he walked downstairs to get some breakfast. He was surprised when he didn't see Hao there. Hao hadn't left the castle without him for a little more than a week now. Yoh looked around and found the spirit of fire playing with, burning, some small spirits. Since the spirit of fire was still here then Hao was too. Yoh went back upstairs and checked in Hao's room. Hao was asleep with a peaceful expression on his face. Yoh walked over to the edge of the bed to get a better look at Hao. Hao was wearing pair of grey sweatpants and no shirt, the same as what he usually wore when going to sleep. The way that Hao was laying with all of the blankets kicked off gave him the impression of a normal kid. '_I guess that even Hao looks vulnerable when he's sleeping._' Yoh thought with a smile. Yoh was about to leave when he felt a strong grip on his arm. The next minute he was being yanked back and pulled onto the bed. When he looked up he saw Hao, fully awake, leaning over him with an amused expression.

"So, I look vulnerable do I?" Hao asked.

Hao smirked upon seeing Yoh's nervous expression. "If you ask me..." Hao moved a little closer and gently bit Yoh's earlobe. "You're the one who looks vulnerable, Otouto."

Yoh shuddered at the contact but wasn't sure how to respond other than that, he didn't expect Hao to wake up from hearing his thoughts. '_I hope he doesn't..._' He closed his eyes and tried to brace himself for what Hao was probably going to do to him, but to his surprise, Hao pulled away. Hao slowly got off of Yoh and sat down on the bed next to him. Yoh was a little confused by Hao's sudden change, normally Hao would have tried to do much worse than that. Hao stood up and looked back at him.

"You should be careful what you think, you don't want to give me any ideas do you?" Hao asked in a mocking tone.

Yoh's face turned a bright red and he turned away. Hao merely laughed and helped Yoh stand. He already thought of a way to get closer to Yoh and at this rate they would be like real brothers in only a few days. All he had to do was act like himself, keep his emotions in check, and avoid conversations about humans. Although he was a sadistic pyromaniac to most people, he wasn't like that to Yoh, now he just had to show it.

XxX

Fen quickly flew to the castle, Hao's words still echoing through her head. She knew that she had to warn master Ren as soon as she could or else he might end up being caught. Right before she reached the castle, she stopped. If the X-Laws were indeed going to check everything, then she couldn't be found by them. They would view her mere presence as a possible means of treason. She realized now that the message she would give to Ren now would be her last. She saw the X-Laws on her way to the castle, at the rate they were going they would arrive by tomorrow. Just enough time to deliver the message and leave without anyone truly noticing her presence. Flying over the guards, she saw Ren talking to Horohoro a little ways away. She flew over Horohoro's head and left a _present_, ruining the mood for any possible make-out session that they had planned. Horohoro grumbled as left to go wash his hair while Ren looked up at her and sighed.

"Did you deliver the message?" He asked as she landed on his shoulder.

"Yes. Hao gave me a message to give to you too. He said: Tell Ren that I got his little message. Hm, because I don't feel like owing him, let him know that tomorrow the X-Laws are going to search the castle for any signs of a possible traitor. It'd be a shame if something happened to him." Fen replied.

"Searching the castle...for signs of traitors..." Ren repeated while trying to snap out of the shock.

"Yes, I assume you know what that means. I can not return to this place, to your side, for a while. What should I do?" Fen asked sadly.

"_Watch over the twins and stay with them. You are one of the smartest creatures I know, so try to get them together in any way that you can. There are three things worrying Yoh right now and as long as they remain he will not care about Hao in a romantic way. Tch, the guards are coming over. Make those three things no longer a threat and they'll be __together in no time, just leave the rest to Hao._" Ren whispered.

Fen spread her wings and took flight, she now knew what she had to do. She already knew what the three things that Ren mentioned were. As she flew away she saw Lyserg enter the castle ahead of time, he was probably sent to inform the king and queen of the X-Laws arrival. She shook the thought out of mind as she continued to fly, she had a goal in mind and she wasn't about to be distracted by something so trivial.

Little did she know that Lyserg's early presence would prove to be more important that she ever could have realized...

XxX

Me: I think I finally succeeded in making a decent cliffhanger.

Yoh: ...How does Lyserg fit into all of this?

Me: You'll find out later.

S.O.F: Please review

Me and Yoh: O.o ...It talks?


	10. Proof

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

"Underline stands for speaking in Chinese."

HaoxYoh

XxX

Yoh stared in surprised at Ren's bird, which was perched directly on his windowsill. Ren had once told him that it could speak Chinese, unfortunately he never really payed attention when Ren tried to teach him. He could say a few basic sentences, but that was all, he couldn't remember much else. The bird was called Fen, if he remembered right, although the question now was why was it here.

Fen was a bird which would deliver it's messages verbally instead of written. Ren knew that he couldn't understand Chinese, therefore it would be strange for Fen to be here for that reason. Yoh wondered what Hao would do it he found Fen here. Fen was a sweet little bird and he didn't want anything to happen to her. Before he could tell her to stay put, she flew out the door and further into the castle.

Yoh prayed that she wouldn't go in Hao's room as he followed her out. Hao's door was shut and when he looked around he saw her dive down the stairs. Yoh quickly ran downstairs after her, when he reached the bottom he was a little surprised at what he saw. Hao was putting out breakfast and he made a little dish of berries for Fen which he put at the corner of the table. Fen happily went to eat her berries while Hao turned to face his little brother.

"So, you're finally awake. Breakfast is done." Hao said as Yoh walked over.

Yoh sat down and started eating his breakfast in silence. '_I'm sure that Hao knows that Fen is Ren's... Maybe he just doesn't care?_' Yoh thought, temporarily forgetting that Hao could read minds.

"I guess that's part of it... although, it's more like since 'she's not human or not a threat, so what's the harm?' Type of feeling." Hao said simply.

Yoh merely glanced at Hao before continuing to eat his breakfast. Once he, Hao and Fen were finished eating, he began washing the dishes. As he washed, he began to wonder if things would've been the same, had this been Hao's first life. Despite Hao's crush on him and the game that they were playing, life was pretty normal. There were even a few times that he caught himself thinking it wouldn't be so bad if his family didn't come for him.

But it didn't mean that he had 'those types of feelings' for Hao. Right? All Yoh wanted was to have a normal life with his brother. He was a little surprised when he saw that he had already finished the dishes. '_I guess time does seem to go faster when your lost it thought._' Yoh mused as he looked at the clock. When he left the kitchen, he saw Hao reading a book while sitting next to the fire. Fen was flying around the room and chirping happily. It was a pretty nice day out, going out for a short walk sounded like a good idea.

Once he had left the castle and reached a hill to watch the clouds, Fen flew off. Despite the fact the there were three things which needed to change for Yoh to like Hao, she was only able affect one of them. The three things that needed to change were simple, yet difficult to do. The Asakura's had been planning to have Yoh marry Anna. Although it was obvious to the entire kingdom that neither one of them were thrilled with this idea, Yoh had come to accept the fact and had worked on trying to be a good future husband.

Yoh viewed it more like dating for a longer period of time rather than actual marriage. Over time, he did develop some slight feelings for Anna, but she was not the same. Anna had started dating a boy who worked at the castle. If Fen could manage to get proof of it and bring it up in a conversation, then Yoh would certainly become opposed to marrying her. The other two things that were holding him back were about Hao, meaning he would have to deal with it himself.

Once she was close to the castle, she began to focus on the task at hand. The X-Laws had placed more guards around the palace, which meant that getting inside would be a little difficult. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to find a blind spot and flew inside, now all she had to do was find Anna and get proof that she was dating someone else. Finding Anna was easy but getting proof was another matter.

She was currently making out with the guy, but Fen wasn't sure what to do now. Her mission was made much easier when the guy took her for a date and they entered a photo booth. Fen used her beak to cut off the photo where they were seen kissing and left before anyone could see her. She could hear Anna swearing about it being one photo short, but simply ignored it and continued flying.

Now that she had proof, all she had to do was bring up the conversation. Which would be difficult, seeing as how Yoh didn't know much Chinese. The more she thought about it, the more difficult it seemed to become. Eventually she just gave up on the the idea of a conversation and dropped the picture directly above where Yoh was sitting. She flew over to a tree and watched as the picture slowly made it's way down to Yoh, eventually landing on his forehead.

Yoh opened his eyes upon feeling a slight weight on his forehead. He took the off the piece of paper and almost dropped it upon seeing what it was. It was a picture of Anna kissing one of the people who worked at the castle. '_So it was just one-sided on my part..._' Yoh thought sadly. He let go of the photo and let it blow away in the wind once more. When it had blown completely out of sight, he got up and walked back to the castle.

He completely ignored Hao and Fen when he walked into the living-room and headed upstairs. It hurt. He didn't know why, but it hurt. He didn't feel anything for Anna at first, it was something his parents had set up after all. Though, after time, he had developed feelings for her. He hoped that she had felt the same way, apparently not. The picture had proven that. The stairs creaked as he climbed them, they seemed to cry with every step that he took.

When he finally reached the top of the stairs, he walked directly towards his room. He didn't care that he had only woken up a few hours ago. Right now, he just wanted to sleep. He slammed the door shut behind him and jumped onto his bed. The sound of the breeze helped lull him into a peaceful sleep.

xXx

Me: I'm so sorry for having such a late update!

Ren: Maybe you should focus less on apologizing and more on writing. *glares*

Me: T.T Ok... 's_cary..._'

Ren: Please review


	11. Conciquences of Breaking a Barrier

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

"Underline stands for speaking in Chinese."

HaoxYoh

xXx

When Yoh opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the darkness of the room. He could barely see the edge of the bed and the only reason he could see at all was because of the moonlight shining through his window. Something bumped into his back, causing him to turn his attention to the figure beside him. He was slightly alarmed when he turned over and found himself face to face with his sleeping twin.

'_Why is Hao in my room, or better yet, why is he in my bed?_' Yoh thought slowly. He struggled to think of a reason, but his mind didn't want to cooperate with him. He returned his attention to Hao and let out a sigh. '_I'm tired and I don't want to think about it right now... I'm going back to sleep._' Yoh thought as he closed his eyes. In no time at all he returned to his peaceful slumber, snuggling close to his twin brother.

XxX

When Hao woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to find Yoh, holding him close, with his face buried in his chest. He wished that Yoh would do things like this more often... when he was awake. For now, it would probably be best if he left before Yoh woke up. He reluctantly lifted Yoh's arms off of him and slipped out of bed. The sunlight shining through the window told him that it was near afternoon. The room was a bit warmer than usual, most likely due to his presence.

As he walked out of the room, he glanced at the calender on the wall. In only five days the king and queen would try to take Yoh back. He twirled a strand of hair in his hand nervously. He had never been one to worry about such trivial matters, but this time was different. He had forgotten how close to the deadline he was, he only had five days to change the way things were between himself and Yoh.

His eyes widened slightly as the thoughts of a familiar shaman reached his ears. It couldn't be... there were still a few days left. Quickly, he focused on the area where he heard the thought, trying to find any more shaman that might be hiding. Luckily, the thoughts belonging to that person were the only thoughts he could hear. With a snap of his fingers, the Spirit of Fire appeared.

"We're leaving. Get Yoh and go to the house on the hill, don't wake him up. I'll be with you shortly... After I greet our guest. Oh, and no matter what, don't let anything happen to him." Hao ordered.

Hao watched as the Spirit of Fire climbed up the stairs, not taking his eyes off the spirit until it was completely out of sight. Once he had felt his brothers presence disappear from the castle, he teleported to the entrance of the castle grounds to discover the reason why someone had come early. Landing on the branch of a strong oak tree, he watched the green haired shaman scuttle around like a little mouse.

A glare formed on his face upon realizing why Lyserg was there... he was creating a barrier around the place. '_Shit._' Hao thought before quickly teleporting out of the area. A strong shock tried to repel him as he made his way past the wall of the barrier. Breaking past the wall felt like taking a hit from a thousand electrified needles, shooting pain past his skin and sending a wave of agonizing pain throughout his entire body.

His skin felt sticky and charred, his mouth was dry, every muscle in his body ached, and his mind was the worst of all. 'Migraine' didn't even begin to cover how he was feeling. His head felt like it was filled with ice, with burning coal around his skull, his thoughts jumbled from the pain. He hadn't been burned since his first life and had almost forgot how much he hated the feeling back then.

As he attempted to stand, his body cried out with a agony once more. Each small movement was like adding another needle to his skin. '_Next time, I think I'd rather get caught in the barrier._' Hao thought bitterly. He knew that teleporting again would intensify his pain a thousand times over, but he couldn't see any other option. Closing his eyes and bracing himself, he teleported to his room of the house.

XxX

Yoh glanced worriedly at the Spirit of Fire, who was guarding the entrance to the cabin. It looked as worried as he did, but it refused to let him out of the house. It concerned him that the Spirit of Fire was the only other thing in the small wood cabin, no matter how long he searched he couldn't find Hao or Fen anywhere. He wasn't even fully sure how he got there, the last thing he remembered was falling asleep next to Hao.

It had been over three hours since he woke up, yet all he could do during that time was sit back and wait. Hao wouldn't just drop him off in some random place with the Spirit of Fire then disappear, it's just not something he would do. He briefly wondered when he started having a higher opinion of Hao, but quickly erased that thought. If anything, Hao would have at least left a note. '_What on earth could have happened?_' Yoh thought.

"Gweeaaah?"

Yoh glanced at the Spirit of Fire questioningly, it's expression had suddenly changed. It's eyes were wide and alert, glancing around the room as though searching for something. The temperature of the house increased thirty decrees in a second, changing the room from mildly warm to a burning furnace. The fire spirit was extremely fidgety, tapping it's fingers nervously and floating around the room in mid panic.

Yoh's eyes widened as realization hit him. He quickly turned and ran out of the room, intent on finding the source of the Spirit of Fire's unease. He could feel Hao's presence now, but he couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from. It was like the presence was coming from the floor itself. Pausing mid step, Yoh glanced down at the wooden floor, feeling slightly idiotic for not thinking of it before.

As he raced into the hallway and yanked open the basement door, he was greeted by a cold gust of air. '_This can't be good..._' Yoh thought as he jumped down into the basement hall. There were three rooms in total in the basement: a bathroom, a bedroom, and a slightly smaller bedroom. He highly doubted that Hao would be in the bathroom, so he went to check the bedrooms.

The smaller bedroom was closest, so he went to check that one first. It was slightly humid, but it didn't have the sticky heat of the upstairs. The bed in the right corner was empty along with the chair by the fireplace. Considering it highly unlikely that his brother had just wanted to scare him and hid in the dusty closet, Yoh headed back into the hall and towards the bigger room.

His fingers quivered as they touched the icy surface of the silver door-handle. A small voice in the back of his head told him that this was a bad idea, that he should just turn back and forget about it, but he decided to ignore that voice for once. He took a shaky breath, desperately trying to calm himself as he turned the handle. The door creaked open, sending a shiver of cold and fear down his spine.

Stepping into the room was like walking into a freezer, it was unnaturally cold, far more so than it would have been even in the middle of a winter night. The only source of light was a small blue fire illuminating the fireplace. Vague shapes were all that he could make out despite the light. He glanced warily across the room as he walked further inside. Eyes frozen at the sight of a dark figure on the bed and a familiar red soaking the sheets.

"Hao!"

XxX

Me: Wow. It's been a year since I posted this story. Time sure does fly.

Hao: Really? Hard to tell when you're over a thousand years old.

Me: Ah, that reminds me, I wanted to ask you something. How old is the SOF?

Hao: I'm not entirely sure. I'd guess as old as time.

Me: And how old is time?

Hao: ...Your question is invalid.

Me:?

Hao: Please review.


	12. Fever

**Disclaimer:** I do not own shaman king.

_Italics stands for thoughts._

**Bold stands for writing or a dangerous tone.**

"Underline stands for speaking in Chinese."

HaoxYoh

xXx

The door slammed shut as Yoh raced to the bed, thoughts in chaos as he recalled the red color of the blanket. His hand trembled as he reached out for the for the soft red fabric. The squishy and wet feeling of warm blood was what he dreaded, but the feeling that greeted him was far more terrifying, a sticky cold. It was blood without a doubt, but it was cold. He grabbed a fistful of the blanket, taking a shaky breath before pulling it off.

Hao was laying on his side, clutching the sheets and gasping for breath. His hair splayed across the mattress, partially covering his face as well. There were small cuts all over his body, some were deep and closed while others were still bleeding. His skin was cold as ice, yet his cheeks were flushed with heat. Sweat was covering his body despite his constant shivering.

Hao seemed to be mumbling something, but it was too quiet for him to hear, he highly doubted that Hao even knew he was there anyway. Seeing Hao in this state hurt far more than any of Anna's punishments back at home, though he didn't know, nor did he care, as to why that was. The only thing he did care about was finding some way to help his brother. Hao paused for a brief moment before rolling onto his back, where Yoh could see the injuries a little better.

"Not only is he injured, but he has a really high fever too... What could happened?" Yoh mumbled as he placed his hand on Hao's forehead.

Yoh closed his eyes to center himself before steadily getting to his feet and leaving the room. He didn't know too much about this kind of thing, but he hoped he would be able to do something to help. His greatest hope right now was that Hao kept some kind of first aid kit in the house, he really didn't want to be forced to improvise. As he walked into the kitchen to get some wash cloths and a lot of water, the Spirit of Fire hesitantly came up to him, holding a first aid kit.

Yoh thanked the fire spirit before quickly heading back downstairs to Hao's room. Hao had pushed of the remaining blankets since he had left and now he was the only thing remaining on the bed. A sigh escaped Yoh's lips as he took a seat on the edge of the bed and and got one of the washcloths wet with lukewarm water. Before he could treat any of Hao's wounds, he'd have to clean them first, which probably wouldn't be all that pleasant for either of them.

Hao let out a hiss of pain as the wet cloth came in contact with his skin. Yoh had to keep a firm hold on Hao's shoulder to prevent him from moving away. For the first time, Yoh was slightly thankful that Hao was too weak to protest, it made the job of cleaning the cuts far easier. Once he was done with that, he quickly got out the bandages and herbs and began carefully tending injuries.

It took a fair bit of time, but after Hao was fully bandaged, he started to look a little better. Yoh remembered from what Faust told him that people with really bad fevers get dehydrated, and that's exactly how Hao seemed right now. He tried putting a bottle of water to Hao's lips, but Hao simply turned away. Not seeing much else of an option, Yoh took a sip of water and pressed his lips to Hao's, waiting until Hao swallowed before pulling back.

Once he felt that Hao was well hydrated, he got another one of the washcloths slightly damp and put it on Hao's forehead to help lessen the fever. All he could do now was stay by his brothers side in case he needed anything. Rest was the greatest priority for Hao right now, only with rest would he be able to recover quickly. As he took a seat on the floor next to the bed, the Spirit of Fire came in the room. It made the small fire slightly larger to keep the room at a stable temperature, that way neither of the twins would freeze through the night.

XxX

Ren stared at the X-Laws with a look of respect, like everyone else in the room. Marco and Jeanne had come to visit, bringing the rest of the X-Laws with them, so that everyone could develop a proper strategy. Anna, Joco, Horohoro, the king and queen, Ryu, Faust, Amidamaru, Lyserg, Jun, and Tamao were all sitting at the table around them. Despite his look of obvious respect towards the X-Laws, his eyes held nothing but rage.

Only an hour prior to the meeting, everyone's room -except for the king and queen's- was broken into and completely trashed. The X-Laws explained afterward that it was for 'cautionary purposes', a kinder way of saying they were checking for traitors. Because of that little stunt, everyone else sitting at the table -excluding the kind and queen- now shared the same opinion of the X-Laws. No one wanted them there, they wanted the X-Laws gone.

"Now, may I ask why we are all here?" Ren asked in the politest tone he could muster.

"Of course." Jeanne replied. "Earlier today we attempted a sneak attack on Hao's castle."

"You what?" Ryu gasped.

"We attempted a sneak attack on Hao's castle." Jeanne repeated.

"What happened?" King Mikihisa asked nervously.

"Unfortunately, Hao got away with prince Yoh. He realized what we were planning at the last second and escaped before we could trap him." Jeanne replied regretfully.

"That's not surprising, this is Hao we're talking about. We'll have to be quicker if we want to catch him." Ren said simply.

"If only I had set the barrier more quickly then this wouldn't have happened." Lyserg muttered.

"Lyserg, this isn't your fault. Now, lets try and think of a plan to get prince Yoh back." Jeanne said with a smile.

"I have an idea. With this, we'll get Yoh back... but there's a chance Hao might escape." Ren said hesitantly.

Everyone glanced at him in surprise. "Well, what is it?"

XxX (three days later)

Yoh sighed as the Spirit of Fire entered the room, telling him it was time to redo Hao's bandages. The Spirit of Fire never actually talked, but it only came in the room about seven times during the day. It would enter the room every three hours, exactly when Hao would need his bandages changed. The seventh time it entered was just to stoke the fire and it usually came in during rare time that he was asleep.

It was tiring to watch over Hao constantly in case something was needed, it was especially difficult since Hao hallucinated when he was awake. Sometimes he would just mutter something about a fire or a bunny demon before going back to sleep, those were the better times. Other times he would wake up in a panic, gasping for breath and looking around worriedly before falling asleep again.

Yoh worried about how he could get Hao to eat something, he was never right in his mind enough when he was awake for him to actually feed him anything. It was becoming a struggle to get him to drink anything now as well. Luckily, Hao's fever did seem to be getting better. His greatest hope now was that Hao would be well enough to eat soon, he didn't want his brother getting sick from hunger after recovering from the fever.

XxX

Me: Hm...

Ren: What's up?

Me: Thinking about my awful memory.

Ren: I'm sure it's not that bad.

Me: ...What were we talking about again?

Ren: ...

Me: What are you doing?

Ren: Trying to decide whether or not you're joking.

Me: Come on, you said it yourself my memory isn't that bad.

Ren: Sometimes I wonder about that...

Me: Please review.


End file.
